JUNCTION CITY, Ore. — Oregon State Hospital will hire hundreds of workers for the new Junction City Mental Hospital. A job fair will be held at the Junction City High School Thursday. The hospital will try to fill 170 open positions. It’s mainly recruiting direct care positions like psychiatrists, nurses, security staff and housekeeping.

The positions will be immediate hire, and those hired will start working right away at the hospital in Salem.

“Our plan is to open two units here in Salem for patients who will eventually be transferred to Junction City’s hospital. So we need the staff to be beginning employment as soon as possible,” said Supt. Greg Roberts, Oregon State Hospital.

For those who are worried about the long distance to Salem, there will be transportation vendors at the job fair to provide carpool options for new hires.

Another 193 positions will open up next year and 76 jobs will be available the following year.

Once the new facility is completed in spring of 2015, it will employ more than 500 people

The job fair is from 12-8 p.m. at Junction City High School, 1135 W 6th Ave. Applications are also available online here.